Teacher received threats, left the state after video of her anti-Trump comments

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Members of the OCC College Republicans hold a U.S. flag as a counter protest to other students, including those in the Feminist Club, who show their support for instructor Olga Perez Stable Cox during a campus rally in Costa Mesa, California, December 12, 2016. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A teacher who told her students that Donald Trump’s election was an “act of terrorism” has received threats and has temporarily left the state.

News of the threats against Olga Perez Stable Cox came to light Monday, as hundreds of people turned out at the college to demonstrate in support of her and against her.

The professor, the union that represents her and the college have received more than 1,000 emails, calls and Facebook comments, most of them critical of Cox, who a week after the election was recorded on video telling students in her human sexuality class at Costa Mesa’s Orange Coast College that “we’re really back to being (in) a civil war.”

“Someone emailed her a picture of her house, with her address,” said Rob Schneiderman, president of the Coast Federation of Educators/American Federation of Teachers Local 1911. The email called Cox a “libtard, Marxist, hatemonger, nutcase” and said “her home address is now going to be sent everywhere,” he added.

Others threatened her livelihood, some her life.

“You want communism, go to Cuba … try to bring it to America and we’ll put a (expletive) bullet in your face,” read an email to her.

Schneiderman described Cox as a “lesbian, Latina woman living in Orange County. She’s pretty strong.”

But threatening emails and phone calls to her private number were too much, and a substitute will cover her classes this final week of the semester, he said.

On Monday, hundreds of students and faculty members who support Cox gathered for a noon rally on campus. Carrying homemade signs calling for free speech, they defended the teacher they described as someone dedicated to protecting all students, including those who are LGBT and students of color.

“She has been here 30 years and impacted over 30,000 lives,” said student Elias Altamirano, 20, one of those who organized the rally. “I want to let Olga know this is her home and she doesn’t have to feel threatened.”

A smaller group, with students from the College Republicans, which made the video public, also was on hand. They set up a computer to continuously play Cox’s recording, in which she referred to white supremacy and called the vice president-elect “one of the most anti-gay humans in this country.”

Those students countered that the issue is not about academic freedom but points to an instance of a college instructor pushing her own political agenda, something they say is prevalent on college campuses nationwide.

“This has nothing to do with free speech. It’s a professor overstepping her profession,” said Vincent Wetzel, who said he is a gay student who has attended some of Cox’s LGBT panels. “Of all the people who are supposed to provide an inclusive environment, it’s her. Now, I don’t feel comfortable.”

Two students in Cox’s class said she asked those who had voted for Trump to identify themselves.

“She tried to get everyone who voted for Donald Trump to stand up and show the rest of the class who to watch out for and protect yourself from,” said Tanner Webb, 21, of Huntington Beach.

Webb, who describes himself as apolitical, said he chose to speak up after reading comments in the Orange County Register from Schneiderman, the faculty union president, defending Cox. Schneiderman had said that Cox is “known for her open and engaging ways in class” but that the student who videotaped her chose to not engage in a discussion.

“Professor Cox’s anti-Trump rant was no open debate to engage students,” said Webb, who added that he has enjoyed the class and described Cox as “a good teacher.”

Schneiderman offered a different version of what happened: Cox told the class some people would be happy with the election results, and a student stood up in approval. She then invited others to stand up and show their support if they wished, he said.

Shawn Steel, the Republican national committeeman from California and an attorney who is representing Orange Coast College Republicans, brought the matter to the administration’s attention Nov. 23, a week before the group went public with the video.

At that time, Steel wanted Cox, a tenured professor, to apologize. Now, with students saying she tried to separate and shame Trump supporters, Steel said school officials should consider firing her.

“That’s a deal-breaker for me,” he said.

School administrators said they are investigating Steel’s complaint and also whether the student who taped the teacher should face sanctions for recording her without permission.

Since the initial video surfaced and made national news, a second video clip has been posted online from the same class, with Cox expressing more of her political views and vowing to keep her students safe from any acts of racism and prejudice.

“It is getting better,” Cox tells the students. “Orange County is one of the most conservative counties in the nation, and the fact that we did vote Democrat says a lot, and it gives me hope for my neighbors and people in this area.

“Living in Orange County is scary, when you know you are surrounded by so many people that are so hateful. But I am optimistic that we are the majority and that we will make a difference.”